Izuchukwu OkosiSuper Eagles prospect Gift Orban is courting interest from Premier League side Tottenham Hotspur since last season following his impressive goal-scoring form for his Belgian side, KAA Gent.
The diminutive striker who revealed that he is a fan of Manchester United scored 15 league goals in 16 matches for his Belgian Pro League side in the 2022/2023 season.
In the last 24 hours, several developments in the summer transfer market has taken place and the domino effect could mean that the Nigerian finally gets to play in England albeit not on the red side of Manchester.
Tottenham Hotspur and Bayern Munich on Thursday struck an agreement for the imminent record signing of England captain Harry Kane after weeks of negotiations.
Kane is now left to decide whether he would sign for the Bundesliga champions or remain at White Hart Lane and sign a new contract.
Orban was on his goal-scoring best on Wednesday in the first leg of the UEFA Europa Conference League qualification fixtures against Pogon Szczecin as he scored a hat-trick.
Orban scored in the 13th minute, added the second goal in the 35th, and completed his hat-trick in the 65th before he was substituted in the 89th minute.
Orban also scored the fastest-ever hat-trick in the same competition at Turkish club Basaksehir last season. He now has four goals in three games so far this season in all competitions (one in the Belgian Pro League).
Wednesday’s game was a great audition for the player.
The nippy forward has not made his international bow for Nigeria so has not met with the 75% of international football requirement needed to play in the Premier League.
However that law seems to be going into extinction as Spurs could apply for a ‘Special talent’ request to enable the youngster play in England after proving his undoubted qualities.
Super Eagles supporters hope that the striker would be invited for September’s 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualification game against Sao Tome and Principe.
Nigeria have booked their spot at the tournament in Cote d’Ivorie which begins in January 2024.
Izuchukwu Okosi is a Nigerian sports and entertainment journalist with two decades of experience in the media industry having begun his media journey in 2002 as an intern at Mundial Sports International (MSI) and Africa Independent Television (AIT), owners of Daar Communications Plc.
In October 2004, Okosi joined Complete Communications Limited, publishers of Complete Sports newspaper and Complete Football magazine as a reporter and later script writer for the Complete Sports studio.
He worked there for 13 years until October 2017.
Okosi also worked various times as Correspondent, Content creator and Editor at Sports Market International Magazine, Opera News, All Nigeria Soccer Media and Iconic Media Watch.
He also undertook freelance writing gigs for some local and international organizations.
Okosi is a member of the Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN), Association of Movie Producers (AMP), Association of Voiceover Artistes of Nigeria (AVOA), Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN) and Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ).
He has been part of cast in some Nollywood movies and radio dramas including Blood Money 2, Scores To Settle, Dead End 2, Another Campus Tale and Battle Line.
Aside mainstream media and the entertainment industry, he has interests in scouting/unearthing of talents in the sports and creative sectors, exports business and property development.
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